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Vellum (novel)
''Vellum: The Book of All Hours'' is a speculative fiction novel by Hal Duncan. It is Duncan's first novel. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Pan Macmillan in August 2005 and then, in April 2006, in the USA by Del Rey, an imprint of Random House. Introduction The Vellum is a reality of which Earth is only a small part. It can be reprogrammed using something called the Cant, and this is what some deities from ancient myths, called the ''Unkin'', have done. One group of Unkin see themselves as Angels, and have set up a Covenant promising to reject any ancient deity looking to regain his or her past glory; they are at the time of the narration getting ready for a final war. A group of newly born Unkin (one can become an Unkin through certain unspecified events in his or her life) who refuse to take part in such war are the main characters: Seamus Finnan, an Irish angel hiding out in the desert; Phreedom Messenger, a trailer park biker trying to avoid conscript ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal Duncan
Hal Duncan (born 21 October 1971, real name Alasdair) is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer. His works have been listed in the New Weird genre, but he prefers not to ascribe his writings to any genre. Life Hal Duncan was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, in 1971 and grew up "in small town Ayrshire" before relocating to Glasgow, where he graduated from Glasgow University and where he still resides. Before becoming a full-time writer he used to work as a computer programmer, a job that he quit in 2005. He is openly gay and terms himself a "Sodomite". Occasionally he fashions himself as "THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan" ''(sic)'' after receiving hate mail defining him by this expression, as reported on his personal weblog. He is also very outspoken politically and considers himself an " anarcho-socialist who recognizes that democracy's the least of all possible evils" but also "a little bit liberal." He is an active member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorcycling
Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous countries, including India, China and Indonesia. In developing countries, motorcycles are overwhelmingly utilitarian due to lower prices and greater fuel economy. Of all motorcycles, 58% are in the Asia Pacific and Southern and Eastern Asia regions, excluding car-centric Japan. Motorcycles are mainly a luxury good in developed nations, where they are used mostly for recreation, as a lifestyle accessory or a symbol of personal identity. Beyond being a mode of motor transportation or sport, motorcycling has become a subculture and lifestyle. Although mainly a solo activity, motorcycling can be social and motorcyclists tend to have a sense of community with each other. Reasons for riding a motorcycle For most riders, a motorcycle is a che ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.The remnant of a commemorative inscription, dated to the 3rd century BC, lists four, possibly eight, dramatic poets (probably including Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas) who had won tragic victories at the Dionysia before Aeschylus had. Thespis was traditionally regarded the inventor of tragedy. According to another tradition, tragedy was established in Athens in the late 530s BC, but that may simply reflect an absence of records. Major innovations in dramatic form, credited to Aeschylus by Aristotle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Sumer under the name "Inanna", and later by the Akkadian Empire, Akkadians, Babylonian religion, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar, (occasionally represented by the logogram ). She was known as the "Queen of heaven (antiquity), Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main Cult (religious practice), cult center. She was associated with the planet Venus and her most prominent symbols included the Lion of Babylon, lion and the Star of Ishtar, eight-pointed star. Her husband was the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz) and her , or personal attendant, was the goddess Ninshubur (who later became conflated with the male deities Ilabrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumerian Religion
Sumerian religion was the religion practiced by the people of Sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerians regarded their divinities as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders. Overview Before the beginning of kingship in Sumer, the city-states were effectively ruled by theocratic priests and religious officials. Later, this role was supplanted by kings, but priests continued to exert great influence on Sumerian society. In early times, Sumerian temples were simple, one-room structures, sometimes built on elevated platforms. Towards the end of Sumerian civilization, these temples developed into ziggurats—tall, pyramidal structures with sanctuaries at the tops. The Sumerians believed that the universe had come into being through a series of cosmic births. First, Nammu, the primeval waters, gave birth to Ki (the earth) and An (the sky), who mated together and produced a son named Enlil. Enlil separated heaven fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chapter (books)
A chapter (c''apitula'' in Latin; ''sommaires'' in French) is any of the main thematic divisions within a writing of relative length, such as a book of prose, poetry, or law. A chapter book may have multiple chapters that respectively comprise discrete topics or themes. In each case, chapters can be numbered, titled, or both. An example of a chapter that has become well known is "Down the Rabbit-Hole", which is the first chapter from ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. History of chapter titles Many ancient books had neither word divisions nor chapter divisions. In ancient Greek texts, some manuscripts began to add summaries and make them into tables of contents with numbers, but the titles did not appear in the text, only their numbers. Some time in the fifth century CE, the practice of dividing books into chapters began. Jerome (d. 420) is said to use the term ''capitulum'' to refer to numbered chapter headings and ''index capitulorum'' to refer to tables of contents. Augu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erratum
An erratum or corrigendum (plurals: errata, corrigenda) (comes from la, errata corrige) is a correction of a published text. As a general rule, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing process) and a corrigendum for an author's error. It is usually bound into the back of a book, but for a single error a slip of paper detailing a corrigendum may be bound in before or after the page on which the error appears. An erratum may also be issued shortly after its original text is published. Etymology Corrigendum is the gerundive form of the Latin compound verb ''corrigo -rexi -rectum'' (from the verb ''rego'', "to make straight, rule", plus the preposition ''cum'', "with"), "to correct", and thus signifiesassuming the full form has added to it the verb ''sum'' or parts thereof, changing the meaning to the idea of necessity or compulsion "(those things) which must be corrected" and in its single form ''Corrigendum'' it means "(that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theft
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as larceny, robbery, embezzlement, extortion, blackmail, or receiving stolen property. In some jurisdictions, ''theft'' is considered to be synonymous with ''larceny'', while in others, ''theft'' is defined more narrowly. Someone who carries out an act of theft may be described as a "thief" ( : thieves). ''Theft'' is the name of a statutory offence in California, Canada, England and Wales, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Australian states of South Australia Theft (and receiving). and Victoria. Theft. Elements The '' actus reus'' of theft is usually defined as an unauthorized taking, keeping, or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a '' mens rea'' of dish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its prominence and status with the advent of the printing press. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and administrative duties such as the taking of dictation and keeping of business, judicial, and historical records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities. The profession has developed into public servants, journalists, accountants, bookkeepers, typists, and lawyers. In societies with low literacy rates, street-corner letter-writers (and readers) may still be found providing scribe service. Ancient Egypt One of the most important professionals in ancient Egypt was a person educated in the arts of writing (both hieroglyphics and hieratic scripts, as well as the demotic script from the sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metatron
Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few brief passages in the Aggadah and in mystical kabbalah, Kabbalistic texts within Rabbinic literature. The figure forms one of the traces for the presence of Dualism in cosmology, dualist proclivities in the otherwise monotheistic visions of both the Tanakh and later Christian doctrine.Guy Stroumsa ''The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity,''Oxford University Press p.15. The name Metatron is not mentioned in the Torah or the Bible and how the name originated is a matter of debate. In Islamic tradition, he is also known as Mīṭaṭrūn ( ar, links=yes, ميططرون), the angel of the veil. In folkloristic tradition, he is the highest of the angels and serves as the celestial scribe or "recording angel". In Jewish apocrypha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frame Story
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (construction), a building term known as light frame construction *Framer, a carpenter who assembles major structural elements in constructing a building *A-frame, a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner **A-frame house, a house following the same principle *Door frame or window frame, fixed structures to which the hinges of doors or windows are attached *Frame and panel, a method of woodworking *Space frame, a method of construction using lightweight or light materials *Timber framing, a method of building for creating framed structures of heavy timber or willow wood In vehicles *Frame (aircraft), structural rings in an aircraft fuselage *Frame (nautical), the skeleton of a boat *Bicycle frame, the main c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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